The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) latest consumer survey has found around a fifth of respondents no longer eat meat alternatives and that just over a third confirmed that they had never eaten products of that category.

The FSA’s Food and You 2 study measures self-reported knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland twice a year. This latest survey was conducted between October 2021 and January 2022.

Emily Miles, chief executive at the FSA, said: “As well as giving us an important insight into the FSA’s core responsibility of food safety, Food and You 2 also provides us with a detailed snapshot of peoples’ perceptions and behaviours on food-related issues, including sustainability, food security, and their diets.

“The FSA’s new strategy committed it to helping the governments we serve in Westminster, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure food is healthier and more sustainable, as well as being safe and what it says it is. This insight is part of the evidence we provide so that consumers’ perspectives on the food they eat are heard.”

Greater awareness

The most common changes respondents reported making in their diet over the previous 12 months were eating less processed food (40%) and starting to minimise food waste (40%).

Around a third of respondents reported that they currently eat meat alternatives, while 21% of those surveyed reported that they used to eat meat alternatives but no longer do. 39% of respondents said that they had never eaten meat alternatives.

Respondents reported greater awareness and knowledge of genetically modified food (9% had never heard of GM food) than gene-edited or genome-edited food (GE). Around 42% had never heard of GE food.